Coming Back to Alexandria
by The Moon Fairy
Summary: This is what happens with Glenn, Eugene, Tara and Nicolas come back from the warehouse where Aiden and Noah died. I don't think they covered them actually coming back in the show so here's my take!
1. Chapter 1

"Help, I need some help!" Glenn yelled at the top of his lungs.

On the drive back, he couldn't help thinking that he was making a mistake. Should he have just left Nicolas behind? He reflected on what happened at the warehouse. He had made so many mistakes today. The very first one was agreeing to go on a run with these people in the first place. He should have known better. Trying to work with Aiden and Nicolas never had gone well. They were too cocky, too empty-headed. He should have never gone out there, never taken Tara and Noah. Now, there is possibility that he could lose them both today.

"Help!" Eugene echoed cradling Tara in his arms.

Curious people started coming out of their houses. Glenn really didn't see any of them jumping up to help. _What is wrong with these people?_ Finally he saw Rick and Carol running toward them.

"What happened?" Rick yelled, and at that moment Nicholas bolted from the van, no doubt heading to Deanna's house to tell some nonsense story that would make him look good. But that didn't matter now.

"She's hurt. I don't know if she'll make it." Glenn looked over to Eugene then back to Rick, "And Noah and Aiden are dead."

"Take her to Pete's house!" Rick yelled, as he took in the gravity of Glenn's statement. Carol followed Eugene hoping to God that Pete was a better doctor than he was husband and father.

"GLENN!" Maggie's voiced pierced the silence surrounding them. She ran into Glenn's arms. She didn't care as her crisp clean clothes touching his dirty, bloody body. "Are you hurt? Are you ok?" She started looking for bites or any injuries.

"I'm ok, but Noah… I couldn't save him." Glenn embraced Maggie. "I'm so sorry." They sobbed in each other's arms.

"It's ok. I know you did all you could." Maggie tried to take it all in. She couldn't believe that loss could touch them even in this safe place. All of the showers, chocolate chip cookies and dinner parties and still there's death and destruction. She should have realized that there was no escape from it. Not even here. At least Glenn was safe. At least there was that much.

"Rick, it was Nicholas and Aiden but Deanna won't believe that," Glenn knew that Rick already figured as much. It was no secret that Nicholas and Aiden weren't the smartest when it came to going outside the wall. But Aiden was Deanna's son. That would pose a big problem for the group. How could she trust them over her son's friend, especially now that her son is dead? Could she see past Nicholas's lies to the truth?

"Let's get inside. Don't worry about that now."

And with that they headed over to Pete's house. People had already gone back to their own houses, no doubt not wanting to get involved.

After what seemed like the longest day of his life, Glenn sat on the floor of their living room. He had showered and had gotten all the grime and blood off, but he still felt like he was back there, hitting that stupid door, trying to break it. If that jackass, Nicolas, hadn't pushed the revolving door to get out, before Glenn could break the glass, Noah might be still alive. He kept repeating that scene in his mind. What could I have done?

As for Aiden, he might have been able to save him, if Nicolas had stuck around to help him! How could Nicolas have betrayed his friend that way? Glenn started thinking that maybe the safety of the wall wasn't worth all of this. If Deanna didn't believe him, what would they do? _Don't they know, that they don't know what they're doing?_ Then he thought about the farm, the prison, Woodbury and finally terminus. Each place worse than the one before. This one isn't worse, it can be good. It can be home. Maggie picked that moment to walk in.

"What are you thinking about?" She sat down next to Glenn. The look in her eyes mirroring the way Glenn looked at Maggie when Beth died. Why did tragedy have to be such a big part of their life now?

"Everything. I keep going back to it in my head. I don't know how I could have saved him."

"I know. I'm sure Noah knew that you did all you could." Maggie said carefully.

Glenn was silent for a long time. Maggie put her head on his shoulder and they just stayed there, not talking. Glenn kept thinking. Maggie was there for him in case he wanted to start talking again.

Finally Glenn started. "Don't let go of me. That's what Noah said when the walkers were pulling him. I couldn't keep hold of him. And then, Nicolas. I could have broken the glass, Maggie, if he had given me enough time. He panicked. And Noah died for it. Don't let go of me. I keep hearing his voice over and over. He was so young. He should be in school and having a normal life, not getting torn apart and dead. This world is so messed up now. These people don't know. They don't know anything." Glenn paused and closed his eyes.

Maggie looked up at him. "You're right. They don't. I don't know if we'll be able to convince them." She looked away, she shouldn't be bring this up now. Not when Glenn just opened up to her. But Glenn saw that she was hiding something.

"What's wrong Maggie? Did something happen here while I was gone?" Glenn looked concerned.

"No…well…" She knew she didn't have another way now. It was better to tell him. Maybe they could figure out what to do together. "I overhead something while I was at Deanna's house. No one saw me, but Father Gabriel came and talked to Deanna."

Glenn looked up that that moment. Where was this going? What was Father Gabriel doing talking to Deanna alone?

Maggie continued. "He raved about how we were all bad people and we were Satan. He completely turned on us. I think he's gone crazy. I'm not sure if Deanna believed him. I couldn't see her face from where I was. I hope not, but now I'm not sure." She paused. "I haven't told Rick yet. I don't know what to do."

Glenn thought about what Maggie was saying. Once Deanna found out about her son and the lies that Nicolas told about what happened out there, things definitely would not look good for their group. Especially now that Gabriel went crazy and betrayed them. Is it even worth it? Can this place truly be better? Can they be happy here?

After another long pause, finally Glenn said, "Don't let go of me, he said." He looked at Maggie. "Noah really believed in this place. Did you know that he was going to study architecture here? He was really excited about it. I saw his new journal. The only thing he got the chance to write was, _this is the beginning_. He wanted to be here, Maggie. He saw good in this place and he wanted it to be a beginning for us. Maybe he was saying, don't let go of that. Don't let go of his dream of this place." He put his hands on Maggie's shoulders, "I think we should try to make it here. I think we should try to make it work. Let's not tell Rick yet. I can see him overreacting. Let's see how it plays out with Deanna. Maybe she will be on our side. If he really sounded crazy, maybe it won't even be an issue. And if it becomes one, we will know why. And we'll take it to Rick then."

"I don't know, Glenn. Maybe the group will question why we didn't tell them right away."

"Look around, Maggie. Too much is going on right now. Everything's already so messed up. Let's just wait. Just a couple days. Let's give Deanna a chance to believe in us. Maybe things will work out. We should try to make things work out…for Noah."

Maggie took that in. She knew Glenn was hurting. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like, watching Noah die in front of him, not being able to do anything. If he wanted to take over Noah's dream, she would too. They would do it together.

Maggie took Glenn's hand. "Glenn, everything will be ok. We're together and we'll get through this. I love you."

Glenn then embraced Maggie and held her as tight as was comfortable. "I love you too."


	2. Chapter 2

Both Glenn and Nicolas had been banned from going out on runs until Deanna has a chance to think about things. That was fine with Glenn. Honestly, he didn't know if he could stomach seeing Nicolas at all after what he had done. He knew he would have to face Nicolas sooner or later. Glenn thought it was a good idea to wait until he no longer wanted to rip his face off, if that day would ever come. _How could Nicolas be such a coward?_ People like him should not still be surviving. He should be dead, not Noah.

Glenn thought back to the revolving door for the hundredth time, he should have just pushed it open with Noah, and left Nicolas there. No, he couldn't think like that. He can't lose himself. But he still dwelled on the thought. _Is that what Rick would have done?_ Glenn saw what was happening to Rick, how hard and strong he had become. He knew why Rick needed be the way he was, Glenn just didn't think he could become like that. But more and more Glenn had to fight with himself to keep his humanity. Why was he thinking about killing Nicolas? Or about deliberately leaving him to die? He shouldn't be. He made his decision in that moment and that was that. If he could go back to that revolving door, he would do it exactly the same way. It was the right thing to do to try to save everyone and he would do it again.

Glenn was outside on the porch talking to Rick about what had happened. Rick understood it all. The people in Alexandria are weak. They are endangering us and we need to change that. They have to become like us or this isn't going to work. And it has to work. Glenn already made that promise to Maggie. Alexandria is going to be our home and somehow everyone will be safe.

"Deanna wanted to see you today, Glenn." Rick said. "She spent the morning videotaping Nicolas."

"Great." Glenn sounded less than thrilled. "He's probably told her that I killed her son or something."

"Just tell your side of the story. Just like you told me. It's all you can do. And you know it's the truth. She'll see that." Glenn knew that Rick was trying to make him feel better. For a moment, he was thankful for that. He was actually a bit nervous to talk to Deanna, especially after Nicolas had.

"Well I guess I should just get it over with." Glenn starting walking toward Deanna's house.

Before he knew it, he was in front of that camera. Deanna tried not to look him in the eye; Glenn did not take that as a good sign. All of a sudden Glenn was tired. The truth was on his side but he couldn't help but thinking Deanna might not be totally interested in the truth or might not want to hear it.

"Just tell me what happened, Glenn." Deanna said, fiddling with her papers.

"Deanna, I'm so sorry about Aiden. I tried to save him. I couldn't…." He paused, and looked at Deanna. She looked so old and so sad.

"Start from the beginning."

"We got to the warehouse and we decided to check the perimeter to make sure that we had another exit in case things went wrong. We were trying to be prepared. We saw the front was overrun. After we saw what we were up against, we went in, and Eugene found the parts. But then walkers came at us. One had riot gear on and had grenades. Aiden started firing at it. I yelled for him to stop. I don't think he could see the grenades. He kept firing until it blew up. There was a big explosion. I think that's when Tara got hurt. But Aiden, when the smoked cleared, I saw that he was … he was…" Glenn paused and looked at Deanna.

"He had landed on top of…he had pieces of wood sticking through his body. I tried to pull him off but I needed help. So I got Nicolas to try to help. He was afraid of the walkers; they were coming. We needed to do it together but he got spooked and he left us there. And then more walkers came and I had to leave him. I had no choice. I couldn't help him." Glenn stopped again. This was harder than he thought. But Deanna had just let him talk without trying to interrupt. And without trying to question him about comparing stories with Nicolas.

"What happened after?"

"Then we were escaping. We tried to find another exit but we were right by the front, which we already knew was covered. That's when Nicolas jumped into one side of the revolving door. And Noah and I hid in the other side. It was the worst situation to be in. We couldn't turn the door or it would be over. Walkers from both sides. Then Eugene drove up in the van and kept honking the horn to get the walkers from the outside to go toward him. So one side was clear. We still couldn't turn the door because of the walkers inside, but I was going to break the glass. Nicolas didn't give me much of a chance and started moving the door to get out. We couldn't stop him and Noah….." Glenn's voice cracked. He cleared his throat and looked up to see Deanna and that stupid camera. "Noah died."

They were both silent for a long time. Deanna didn't try to ask any more questions and Glenn had realized that this was harder to talk about then he realized.

Glenn finally continued, "I got out of that door and ran toward the van. Nicolas was trying to take the van from Eugene. Eugene was asking about me and Noah. And I just… lost it on Nicolas. We dragged him into the van and came back."

"Ok, you can go."

That was it? Glenn was a bit taken aback. He was expecting some more like an interrogation but Deanna had just let him talk. And he was done. And he definitely wanted to leave so he got up.

"Again, I'm really sorry for what happened, Deanna. I wish I could have done more to save Aiden." And with that he went to leave. Deanna just starred at where Glenn had been sitting in a daze. He didn't look back.

On his way back toward the house, he stopped to see Tara. He hoped that something in her condition would change for the better. He really didn't want to lose two people in a matter of days. When he got inside, he saw Eugene next to her. Rosita told Glenn that he hardly ever leaves her. He was glad for Tara to always have someone there in case she woke up. Glenn thought that he saw a change in Eugene when they were out there. There was no doubt in his mind that Nicolas was more of a coward than Eugene. Eugene had saved his life with the van. That was something. And he had got Tara to safety somehow.

Glenn sat down next to Eugene and said. "How is she doing?"

"The same," Eugene replied. "But Pete said that he's hoping she'll come out of it."

"I hope so too." The two men sat in silence. A couple of times Glenn thought that maybe they should talk about what happened. But he had already done enough talking for one day and he was tired. He decided to go home.


	3. Chapter 3

Glenn couldn't sleep that night. He felt uneasy, like he had left something unfinished. His subconscious was telling him to confront Nicolas about what he had done. He needed to have some form of closure. He finally drifted into a restless sleep. He saw faces in his dreams; they were the dead. He was walking around him. He started recognizing walkers: Hershel, Shane, Andrea. And then finally he saw Noah. Glenn heard his name, the voice was coming from behind him; he turned around. _Noah's dead because of me_, the voice said. It was Nicolas. Suddenly Glenn had a gun in his hand. In a rage, pointed it at Nicolas. _Do it_, he taunted. Glenn looks back at Noah, who leading an entire hoard now, of everyone that Glenn had lost. _Do it_, Nicolas whispered. Glenn walked up to him, pointed the gun right at his head, and fired.

Glenn awoke with a start; he could feel the sweat all over his body. He really just dreamt he had killed Nicolas in cold blood. He looked over at Maggie who was sound asleep. This was probably the best sleep they've had in months. Surrounded by high walls, no immediate threats, nobody needed to be up standing watch. And now he starts getting nightmares.

He realized that he wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep after this and got out of bed quietly, trying not to wake up Maggie. He made his way down the stairs and out onto the porch. And to his surprise, he saw Rick sitting outside.

"Hey," Glenn said closing the door behind him. "You can't sleep either?"

"Nah, I don't think I know how to sleep through the night anymore."

Glenn walked to the edge of the porch and took in the night sky. One thing about being this close to the end of the world is that there was no ambient light and that made all the stars visible. That was an enormous price to pay for this view so he may as well enjoy it.

"How did it go with Deanna?" Rick said.

"It was fine. Better than I expected. I think she heard me."

"That's good. I don't think she heard me today," Rick starred at Pete's house. Glenn could tell there was more of a story there. Glenn waited until Rick was ready to say something. He finally said, "Pete is hurting Jesse. Deanna knows but she won't do anything because he's a doctor."

"That's terrible." Glenn had really hoped that this place would make life easier for them. Hearing that, made him think that life gets complicated no matter where you are. Even if you hope your high walls will keep your problems out, they just end up finding a way in. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know yet. Honestly, I'm just trying not to kill him."

"Well, I'm trying not to kill Nicolas. I guess we both have problems." Glenn thought back to his dream where he did actually pull the trigger.

The front door creaked open, a sleepy Maggie emerged, "Glenn, are you out here?"

"Yeah, I'm right here." Glenn started walking toward her. Before he went in with her, he turned back toward Rick, "You should get some sleep too."


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Glenn decided to talk to Nicolas. He couldn't spend another night in limbo. He knew himself well enough to know that if he didn't confront the source, it would just drain on him. Glenn knew he couldn't fix what had happened, but he could make damn sure that he would do anything in his power to keep it from happening again to any one of his people. They were all family now, after all. And he would not give Nicolas the power to hurt anyone he loved with his cowardice or stupidity. He was going to personally make sure that Nicolas never put anyone in danger again.

Maggie was worried about Glenn. She knew that grieving was a process, and that he would just have to go through it at his own pace, just like the rest of them. She knew all too well. She had grieved for her mother and for her family when Shane opened that barn. Maggie had started to understand the walkers a little before that so she had known her mother was gone before her father really grieved. The governor had killed her father. She had assumed Beth had been caught in the crossfire. But the governor was dead. Then Beth died again for her, at the hospital, killed by that guard. The guard had also been killed. She thought about the fact that the people that she had blamed for the deaths of her family were already dead themselves. That wasn't true for Noah. Nicolas had caused his death and he was still alive and protected.

"Are you sure you want to talk with him alone?" she asked. She knew Glenn wasn't sleeping well and taking a lot of the blame for what happened to Noah on himself. She wanted to make sure he would be ok.

"Yeah. It's only me and him that really know what he did that day and I want what's said to stay between us," Glenn said. "I just hope that he'll be alone when I find him."

Glenn had known what he wanted to say to Nicolas since last night. After his talk with Rick, he went back to bed with his head clear and knew. Nicolas was never, ever to leave the walls of Alexandria again. Glenn was going spell out exactly what he did to Noah and to Aiden. He was going to tell him what kind of person he was; that he was not supposed to survive in this world. He was going to tell him that he was lucky and in order to stay lucky, he would never go for runs or group up with anyone in his family again. And he was going to do all of this for his own benefit.

Glenn thought back to what Rick had said the previous night. He never really kept anything from Maggie; he never saw a reason to. He wanted her to know about Pete and who he was, even though now he was helping was to save their friend.

"Maggie, Pete is hurting Jesse. Rick told me last night."

Shocked, Maggie cupped her hands to her face. "What's he going to do?"

"I don't know, but he'll think of something. I just hope whatever it is; it doesn't cause more problems between them and us. Deanna doesn't want to do anything about it because he's the doctor."

"And he's treating Tara."

"Exactly. It's a tough situation. But Rick isn't stupid, he'll figure something out." Glenn didn't know if he was trying to convince Maggie or himself. He had seen the look on Rick's face when he talked about Pete. He hoped Rick could channel that rage and find a solution best for everyone. Glenn was glad that he wasn't the one needing to make that call. He just needed to take care of his own issue.

It didn't take him long to find Nicolas. He laid everything out for him, exactly what he had planned to say. Nicolas was taken aback at first but then tried to counter. But Glenn just stayed steady, he knew he was right in this and he held on to that.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Nicolas did not like that Glenn was talking to him this way.

"I'm someone who knows who you are. I know what you did. And it's not going to happen again…. Don't forget what I said."

"Are you threatening me?"

Glenn snickered, "No, I'm saving you." The funny part was that he wasn't just saving Nicolas from the danger of the outside; he was saving Nicolas from Glenn himself.

Both Glenn and Nicolas heard it at the same time: the sound of a fight, coming from the direction of Pete's house. _Oh no_, Glenn thought. Rick hadn't been as tactful as Glenn would have hoped. Glenn ran as fast as he could with Nicolas running at his tail. He didn't know what he could do to help the situation, but he hoped he could do something.


End file.
